How do I know when my cats are savvy enough to go out and responsible enough to come home (and not be Dirty Stop Outs)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

My two cats -adult rescues, a year old. Neutered/chipped/vaccinated.
Came from CPL, they were originally living in a garden before they were taken into Rescue.

Been with us since mid May . The female has always been the forward one . It took weeks for the male to trust us and his new house , but now he's tearing round like a good'un.
They aren't lap cats but like to sit on DD bed or the dining room chair beside me.

They have a SureFlap fitted (the microchip reading one) for when they go out. Both are looking longingly out the door and he leaps up at moths that land on the outside glass.

The NDN cat has wandered by a few times , he will get his cards when my cats go out . I will start 'discouraging' him with a water spray .

DH is going to dig over a patch for their litter , (I know other cats will use it but I'll just need to dig that in too and accept it)

So how best to handle their venture outdoors (and hopefully not a Return To The Wild)

Planning for mid July . Let them out hungry when we are here .
Bribe them back (they would wrestle their own Mother for tuna)

Is two months confined to barracks enough?

Hungry cats will always come home! Put a few bits of their used litter around the edges of the garden which (should) discourage the other cat and give them a reference point.

I would let them out when they are hungry as you suggest and to start with stay in the garden with them. Increase the time outside. Eventually you just have to trust them! It's hard but all mine have always come back. I was most worried when we moved and they had to get to know a new area. But we live in a rural area so I'm not worried about roads. We have a new kitten who can go out after she is spayed end of July and I'm dreading that already!

Train them to come home I always tap the food bowls before I feed my cats- they then come home where ever the bowls are tapped.
DP trained his by whistling then giving them dreamers they both come to a whistle now.
If you are worried about them keep them in at night this is when most accidents and fights happen.

I used to have cats that had a curfew of 9pm. I would rattle my keys and they would come in for a treat either food or the laser pen.

I also had a cat who would go out when I got up for work and would tell him "if you want to stay in all day be back by 8.15am." He would too especially if the weather was shite .

@TroysMammy I do that! "You've got to be back in FIFTEEN minutes"
He looks at me really solemnly and comes back in on time

I will try tapping the metal bowls with their metal spoon. (They also have some snazzy recycled bamboo ones but they just thud ). They love the sound of the bowl landing on the feeding mat , I see them weighing up the noise of the thud to how much food is in them.

No doubt we'll get a Judgey Look and "Oi, Pavlov , we're not flipping dogs y'know"

Pavlov used dogs as they were quick cats work though. I had a clicker trained cat in the past.

You need to make a certain noise before food, then they recognise that sound to mean food and come running. We have rescued 7 cats over the years and have always taught them noises associated with food!
We even had a naughty cat who got cancer and would always disappear before he needed to go to the vets and I used to have to pretend to be on the phone cancelling the appointment and then he would stroll up the garden 🤣🙄

Now that's a sassy cat!!

We do actually have a cat called sassy!! 😂😂 ironically she's the least sassy of the lot!🤣

Basil is regularly a dirty stop out and the 'kittens' are beginning to follow his example. They're always back in the morning (miaowing to come in).
With the good weather we've been having even Sybil has been out the odd night, (though generally she prefers to sleep on our printer ).

They had their First Official Trip Out yesterday , before breakfast. We opened the door , not used the catdoor yet , that's the next step.

Tarot snaked out the door , got as far as the edge of the patio after loads of sniffing around (NDN cat uses our steps to launch himself over the fence)

Dexter got as far as the door ...

Breakfast was a celebratory tin of tuna

This morning , both of them went out , she got a bit further onto the grass , he got to the edge of the patio.

Kitten Steps (even though they're adults)

Cats are territorial. They don't like strange places. They like reliable food. They are creatures of habit.

Sound super. You've done it very well. Two months sounds long enough with gradual access to outside. I understand your nerves

Ps. I tau ght my cats to return for food time (if nearby) by whistling each time out the backdoor. I learnt 8 years ago that I'd inadvertently trained my 3DC t, if I 🐱 whistle out in crowds, all my DC return to me 😁😂

Good idea about the food tapping. I normally end up yelling whatever unsuitable name DD chose.

Better idea: do not let a 2yo name your cat.

We find we just have to get their food bowls out of the cupboard and they come running!

We taught them the word “treats” to get them in at night (when they are full after dinner anyway), suitably reinforced with Dreamiest!

Sounds like you’ve done everything right! Word of warning about the cat flap though- they are not indestructible!
I adopted my ( previously indoor cat ) at 18 months old. I started letting him in the garden after 8 weeks and he loved it ( and would always come home at the rattle of a dreamies bag) so I had a sure flap fitted after I’d had him 5 months with the plan to keep him in at night. He was a bit slow to use it at first but once he’d learnt that was it..... first night when I locked it he managed to bash it enough to slip the catch and get out. We then had 2 weeks of building more and more elaborate barriers so he couldn’t be get to it and force his way out. They all failed. After finally hearing two buckets of water being knocked over one night followed by the cat bashing his way through the cat flap I finally admitted defeat and now let him come and go as he wants !!! It’s not what I wanted but it seems to keep him happy and I was worried he would injure himself trying to force his way out at night. Some cats are just VERY determined! 🙀
During the day he is the soppiest cat ever who won’t leave my side but at night.......

Hopefully if they are a pair they will stick together and one will stay where the other is. I think I must have a particularly bolshy cat as all of my friends have managed just fine by shaking dreamies and locking the cat flap!

They've been progressing well. This morning they were eyeballing one of the opportunist cats that used to 'visit' our guinea-pigs . It eventually tuned slowly and shifted itself over the fence .

Later , the NDN cat (who thinks my garden is his garden) was chased off when Tarot suddenly doubled in size fluffed out her tail made all her fur stand on end and tore along the path . While her brother sat like Father Dougal all confused !

Resident squirrel chuntered at them, they might save him for later ..........